Runners get an unexpected 20% discount on their 5K

The race committee for the second annual Terry Massa Memorial 5K did not kill anyone. In spite of the volume of the complaints you might have heard, they did not burn down a schoolhouse. No one was kidnapped. So what inspired all the grumbling?


"The bicyclist leading us led us the wrong way," said Renee Cox, the first female finisher.


There had already been course woes for the 2013 race. Shortly before race day, 21 September 2013, it turned out that the 2012 route was unavailable because of construction on the Lafayette Heritage Trail. The race committee swiftly designed a replacement on the streets of the Piney Z neighborhood. Then all was well till the runners went astray during the Saturday race. The route that the runners ended up racing was short, closer to four kilometers than to five.


Tallahassee master runner Tony Guillen was the first to finish the abbreviated run, coming in at 14:46. Next across the line was Kevin Brumfield, running 16:36. The first woman in the field, Renee Cox, was third in 17:02. Paula O'Neil was runner-up in the women's competition and the first master women, coming in sixth overall in 18:10.


About 70 athletes finished something. It wasn't a unique mishap, though, and the race wasn't even as short as it might have been, though. In writing about the history of the Wausau, Florida, Possum Trot 5K, Dothan Runners Club president Larry Dykes noted that: "During the early years, from 1984 to 1989, the organizers often had problems with the turn-around point resulting in short or long courses. In fact, in 1984 they ending up calling it a two-mile race after we all turned around at the one mile." The folks at Wausau learned and moved on, and their race is still around. It's probably no coincidence that at the 2013 Possum Trot 5K every quarter-mile was marked, and you were never out of sight of the next "possum print" painted on the pavement to show the way.


No one died. Once, it's a survivable error. Twice, I'm not so sure.


Top Ten Men, 2013 Terry Massa Memorial 5K

1. 14:46 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 44)
2. 16:36 ~ Kevin Brumfield (M, 41)
3. 17:07 ~ Pat Falls (M, 46)
4. 17:51 ~ Travis Pollard (M, 30)
5. 18:22 ~ Ray Tarver (M, 52)
6. 19:03 ~ Robert Wigen (M, 47)
7. 21:29 ~ John Finch (M, 30)
8. 21:29 ~ Jamie Carver (M, 41)
9. 24:15 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 9)
10. 24:43 ~ Ken Peacock (M, 49)

Top Ten Women, 2013 Terry Massa Memorial 5K

1. 17:02 ~ Renee Cox (F, 26)
2. 18:10 ~ Paula O' Neill (F, 52)
3. 20:31 ~ Debbie Peters (F, 52)
4. 20:47 ~ Sandra Canada (F, 50)
5. 20:52 ~ Birgit Maier-Katkin (F, 51)
6. 21:50 ~ Lisa Umana (F, 37)
7. 22:05 ~ Julie Hanowell (F, 42)
8. 23:19 ~ Macey Deaton (F, 23)
9. 23:20 ~ Blair Burley (F, 21)
10. 23:34 ~ Ann Guillen (F, 44)

Links

• Complete results of the 2013 Terry Massa Memorial 5K at gulfwinds.org
  http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2013/Terry%20Massa%20Memorial%202013.asp
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the of the 2013 Terry Massa Memorial 5K
  https://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/Massa_13
  
  
• 2012 story, "Droze and Cox tops at the first Massa 5K"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/09/massa-2012.html
  
  
• Meanwhile across town: "Linton turns the fastest Prefontaine time in over three decades"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/09/prefontaine-2013.html
  
• Choose your next race in the Tallahassee region from the many on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1